In-Short
Why do companies wait till Christmas to create advertising that touches my soul? It’s never the wrong time of year to communicate beyond features and benefits and share why we exist and how it can impact our lives.
In-depth
Does turkey stimulate the amygdala, turning on the emotional processing center of the brain; making us more sensitive to emotive messages? Does excessive eating, alcohol, a little R&R and the celebration of the new year turn off the amygdala; transforming us back into robotic data processing machines void of emotion?
Of course not. We are first and foremost emotional beings, and in most cases, make emotional decisions backed by just enough logic to justify our actions. So why then do brands only communicate on this emotional level around the holidays? Why only then do they pause the chest pumping, feature touting and price promoting to remind us what it is we actually crave; love, connection, and purpose.
We are back to where we were before Christmas. The same mundane ads trying too hard to be funny, bragging about features and benefits that all the competitors claim, or worst of all, competing on price. But why?
All the classic Christmas stories, from It’s a Wonderful Life, to children’s animated specials, to A Christmas Story and even my personal favorite, Elf, call us out on this false boundary we set around Christmas. They are all written to inspire us to keep that Christmas spirit going all year, to never lose sight of what’s truly important to us. Yet two weeks later, it’s gone.
But just like those Christmas stories all tell us, it’s a choice we make. We can choose to see each other as data points and providers of features and benefits. Or, we can choose to see each other has humans and organizations of humans, needing and wanting love, connection and purpose. We can choose to communicate from a commerce mindset, focusing on creating a transaction. Or, we can choose to communicate from a human mindset, focusing on serving the individual, providing them with the tools, education and inspiration to love, connect and fulfill their purpose.
Also published on Medium.